Rail-bond.



Patented May 7, l90l.

W. T. PRINGLE.

RAIL BOND.

(Application filed Jan. 15, 1900.)

(No Model.)

lNVENTOR:

WITNESSES: 692 M? v jkmumr r /iwvsw,

' aka? 6 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM T. PRINGrLE OF LANSDOWNE, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL-BOND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Iatent No. 673,660, dated May 7, 1901. Application filed January 15. I900. Serial No. 1.425. (No model-Y To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM T. PRINGLE, of Lansdowne, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Bonds, whereof the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to electrical conductors of the class used in the construction of railways for electrically connecting adjoining rail-sections and of the general type comprising a flattened body provided with terminals at its opposite ends so arranged as to be conveniently secured, as by rivets, in apertures in the respective rail-sections.

It is the object of my invention to provide a rail-bond wherein the electrical conducting material is continuous and integral between its points of attachment at its opposite extremities to the respective rail-sections and which may be conveniently shaped of sheet metal, as distinguished from the cast and Wrought metal structures of the prior art.

My invention consists in a body of electrical conducting material, preferably flattened and laminated to secure flexibility, as hereinafter described, and provided with tubular-rivet terminals formed in continuation of said body and in integral relation therewith.

My invention also comprehends certain minor details of construction hereinafter specified and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figurel is an edge view of a rail-bond conveniently embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a face view of the bond shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3, but showing a modified form of my invention. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary face view of a railbond, showing a modified form of my invention. Fig. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the formation of the bond shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Fig. 7 is a perspective View illustrating the formation of the bond shown in Fig. 4.

In said figures, A is the bond-body, of conducting material, and B represents terminal rivet-tubes formed in continuation of the body A in integral relation therewith. The development of the tubes B from the body A forms shoulders O at the inner ends of said tubes,

constituting,in effect, heads for the respective tubes B and facilitating their engagement with the rails as rivets.

The terminal tubes of a rail-bond formed as above described may be inserted through apertures in the respective adjoining rail-sections with said shoulders O abutting against the sides thereof and said tubes be expanded therein by any convenient means. I prefer, however, to fixin the tubes B filling-pieces D, which, as shown at the right-hand end of Fig. l, abut against portions a, of the body A, which obstruct the inner ends of said tubes. It is to be noted that although said pieces D are separate from the tubes B the joints between said parts do not interrupt the continuity of the conducting material of the bond, which extends from end to end thereof. The separate relation of the pieces D and tubes B is advantageous in that the latter may be more conveniently expanded into intimate contact with the surfaces of the openings in the rail by the upsetting of said pieces intermediate of their length, when the free ends of said tubes are headed over with a hammer or other convenient riveting implement, a better electrical contact between the bond and the rail-sections being secured by the employment of said filling-pieces D than if the terminals of the bond were solid instead of being tubular.

The form of my invention above described may be conveniently made, as shown in Fig. 6,from a sheet-metal blankX,the ends whereof are first gathered into tubular shape and then bent at right angles with the plane of the body A, as shownin Figs. 1 and 2. It is obvious, however, that a bond having seamless tubular ends, such as shown in Fig. 4, may be formed, as shown in Fig. 7, by slitting a tube-blank X at no, flattening the central portion thereof, and upsetting the tubular ends thereof at right angles with the plane of the flattened portion.

I prefer the form of my invention shown in Figs. 2 and 6, wherein the body A is slitted or slotted, so that the resulting bars or laminations a terminate short of the extremities of the bond. It is obvious, however, that the bond maybe laminated fromend to end, as shown in Fig. 5, and the laminations thereof be united by some convenient means, such as the cross-strip 0, Although the arrangement of the bars a in a common plane,- as shown in section in Figs. 3 and 4, secures a desirable degree of flexibility of the body A, I find it advantageous under some circumstances to twist said bars, as indicated by the dotted lines at a in Fig. 2.

In view of the state of this art it is to be noted that I do not desire to herein claim,.

broadly, a rail-bond in which the conducting material is integral throughout its length. However, I believe it to be'new to construct a bond of the general type aforesaid, as herein shown and described, and therefore do not desire to limit myself to the precise details of construction which I have illustrated, as it is obvious that various modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim- 1. An electrical rail-bond, comprising a flattened body, terminal tubes in continuous integral relation with said body, and projecting at substantially right angles with the plane thereof,-perforations in said body intermediate of said terminal tubes, portions of said body obstructing the inner extremities of said tubes, and filling-pieces fixed in said terminal tubes, to abut against said ohstructing body portions, substantially-as set forth.

2. An electrical rail-bond, comprising a flattened body; terminal tubes in continuous integral relation with said body and bent in such angular relation with said bodythat the latter is opposed to the inner ends of. said tubes, substantially as set forth.

3. .An electrical rail bond, comprising a flattened body'; terminal tubes in continuous integral relation with said body and bent in such angular relation with said body that the latter is opposed to the inner ends of said tubes and forms a shoulder therewith, substantially as set forth.

' WILLIAM T. PRINGLE.

Witnesses:

EDWD. G. REGN, ARTHUR. E. PAIGE. 

